Musical rattle



Dec. 31-, 1940. 1. E. COHN 2,226,806

MUSICAL RATTLE Filed Feb. 16 1940 Patented Dec. 31, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MUSICAL BATTLE Irwin E. Cohn, New York, N. Y.

Application February 16, 1940, Serial No. 319,216

3 Claims.

This invention relates to rattles having means for producing musical tones, and its specific object is to provide a combination which includes a very inexpensive and easily manufactured sound 5 element capable of being stamped from a unitary sheet of metal and bent up to provide elements adapted to be successively struck by a striking member to produce a succession of different and pleasing notes of the musical scale. For example, the stamping may be so formed that when the striker is rotated in a given direction the notes will be those characteristic of a well recognized musical composition such as the six notes employedby the bus horns at the New York Worlds Fair identifying The Sidewalks of New 7 York. Also, the sound producing elements can i be arranged in any arbitrary fashion to produce a pleasing sound effect.

In a device of the present type, to wit, a rattle,

- the cost must be very low in order to obtain volume distribution, and the invention enables this to be readily accomplished.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawing, in. which:

251 Figure 1 is a view in elevation, the ball and sound tines being shown in vertical section.

Figure 2 is a top plan view.

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on the line 33, Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the cut blank for the sound producing tines before the latter are bent into final form.

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen that the rattle comprises a handle member of usual form carrying at its lower end a ring 2, the handle I being formed with an aperture to receive a stud or screw 3.

The upper end, of the handle may be shouldered as at Im, the shoulder having an upper sur- 40 face to receive the lower section 4 of a spherical element, the upper section 43 being preferably apertured as at 4am.

The upper margin of ball section 4 is bent outwardly and thence upwardly to form a receiving 45 flange for the margin of the upper ball section Cemented to the end surface of ball section 4 is the shouldered lower end of a hollow stem 5 upon the top of which is cemented a disk 5 of 50 Celluloid or the like, the latter having an axial aperture. Upon disk 6 rests the base is: of the sound producing member, the screw or stud 3 passing through an aperture in base member Ir and extending downwardly into the handle I to reinforce the connection between the handle and the upper portion of the rattle. Thus the lower area of the stud or screw 3 may tightly fit the inner wall of handle I and may be cemented thereto, if desired.

The sound producing member comprises a 5 unitary sheet of metal die cut by radial openings inwardly terminating by annular cut-out sections, as best shown in Figure 4. Thus a plurality of tines I are provided. These tines are curved as best shown in Figure 3 and are bent upwardly, 10 being separated from each other.

Depending from the top of the ball section 4;: is a striker which may comprise a wire carrying a ball at the end thereof, the striker being indicated at 8 and its upper end may be hooked to 15 pass through an eye member 9 carried by the ball section 49: at its top. When the rattle is given bodily rotating motion the ball end of the striker will move in an arcuate path and the ball will successively strike the tines, sounding the same in succession, to produce a progression of musical notes or tones. Also, ordinary shaking of the rattle will cause the ball to strike different tines to produce an arbitrary succession of musical notes.

Due to the form of the sound producing element, a novel effect is obtained at extremely low cost.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In a musical rattle, in combination with a handle and a striking member adapted to move in an arcuate path, of a sound producing member comprising a unitary sheet of metal formed with a central area and a plurality of radially extending tines of relatively different areas, the tines being bent angularly with respect to said central area into a plural-tine arrangement substantially annular in form, a ball shaped enclosure for said sound producing member and a pendant striking element disposed within the circular arrangement of the tines and adapted upon movement of the handle to ascribe a circular path and to strike the tines successively.

2. In a musical rattle, a sound producing element comprising a sheet of metal having a central area and a plurality of tines radially projecting from said area, said tines being separated by straight wall openings inwardly terminated by annular openings so that the tines are connected to the central area by relatively narrow sections, each tine being bent upwardly at said relatively narrow section and being outwardly curved.

3. A musical rattle comprising a handle formed with an axial aperture, a semispherical member carried by said handle, a sound producing member supported by the handle, a stud passed through an aperture in the center of said sound producing member and projected into the handle, thereby reinforcing its connection with said musical member, the sound producing member including a. plurality of tines bent upwardly from the center section of said member, a second semispherical member carried by the first like membet, and a striker suspended from said second semispherical member and adapted to move into and out of contact with said tines.

IRWIN E. COHN. 

